Small arms and light weapons virtual side event for second United Nations Counter-Terrorism Week

“Preventing terrorists from acquiring weapons: towards technical guidelines to facilitate the implementation of Security Council resolution 2370 (2017) and related international standards and good practices on preventing terrorists from acquiring weapons”

24 June 2021, 12:30 - 02:00 EST

#NoWeapons4Terrorists

Security Council resolution 1373 (2001) requires States to refrain from providing any form of support to entities or persons involved in terrorist acts, including by eliminating the supply of weapons to terrorists. Security Council resolution 2370 (2017) and relevant subsequent Council resolutions call on all States to eliminate the supply of weapons, including small arms and light weapons (SALW), unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) and their components, and improvised device (IED) components, to those involved in terrorist acts. Security Council resolution 2370 (2017) is the first Council resolution specifically dedicated to addressing the linkages between the supply of a wide range of different types of weapons, equipment, and their components, and terrorism.

The objectives of the virtual side event are to raise awareness and knowledge of the different ways and means through which terrorist groups and those who commit acts of terrorism acquire different types of weapons and to promote collective action for the implementation of resolution 2370 (2017), relevant subsequent resolutions, good practices and different measures to prevent the acquisition of different types of weapons by terrorist groups. The event aims to raise the awareness of Member States and other stakeholders gathered during the 2021 United Nations Counter-Terrorism Week by providing an update on the above-mentioned joint project and introducing work towards the development of, and elements of, technical guidelines to facilitate the implementation of resolution 2370 (2017) (which is expected to promote their future use, once they are released). The aim of the technical guidelines is to contribute to the enhancement of Member States’ legislative, strategic and operational capacities to prevent, detect and counter the acquisition, illicit trafficking and use of different types of weapons by terrorists. The guidelines will be considered a working reference document and tool to facilitate further dialogue and consultations among stakeholders, including Member States and other relevant stakeholders, at various levels. An outline of the draft technical guidelines and executive summaries of the three guideline modules (on SALW, IED components, and UAS components, respectively) will be presented during the side event in advance of the September 2021 full release of the technical guidelines to Member States.

UNCCT and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), in cooperation with CTED and he United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA), are implementing a project on “Addressing the terrorism-arms-crime nexus: preventing and combatting the illicit trafficking of small arms and light weapons and their illicit supply to terrorists: supporting the implementation of resolution 2370 (2017) and the Madrid Guiding Principles”. The project aims to help enhance the national legislative, strategic and operational capacities of Central Asian States to prevent, detect and counter the illicit trafficking and acquisition of firearms and the associated activities of terrorist and organized criminal groups. In this regard, the technical guidelines will complement and serve as a practical tool supporting the activities under the UNCCT-UNODC project and future capacity-building projects in this field. By developing a higher degree of cooperation and cohesion, the international community can more effectively prevent, detect and counter the acquisition by terrorist groups of weapons and the associated activities of terrorist and transnational organized criminal groups.

The virtual side event will consist of an opening session, to be followed by interventions and an expert panel featuring presentations by experts on various aspects of preventing terrorists from acquiring weapons and the implementation of Council resolution 2370 (2017) and other relevant resolutions. CTED will act as the moderator.

The virtual side event will be held via the Interprefy virtual platform on Thursday, 24 June 2021, from 12.30 p.m. to 02.00 p.m., EDT. The meeting will be conducted in English. Simultaneous interpretation will be provided in Russian.

The concept note for the virtual side event is available here. 

The agenda for the virtual side event is available here. 

You can register here: https://forms.office.com/r/qDinYMxLSF.